Thanks to a favorable schedule and a fresh squad, Leicester City is on course to win the championship.

Months before he guided Leicester City to the top of the English Premier League, Claudio Ranieri was supposed to get fired. At least, that’s what the English bookmakers said.

More than a decade ago, Ranieri was the manager of Chelsea, one of the top jobs in English soccer. But in the 11 years since leaving the club, he had earned a reputation as a journeyman coach, stringing together unremarkable stints at clubs around Europe...